Dumka, May 23: Kumrabadh, Kathikund, Chaparvita, Baramujora, Bourijore and several other villages in Santhal Pargana could well be the new Singur or Nandigram.

For, villagers in these nondescript places are up in arms against projects — ranging from power to steel to coal — that are proposed to come up in the tribal heartland.

Meet Sabita Kumari and Fulmuni Hembrom, who were seen boisterously demonstrating in front of the deputy commissioner’s office here today with hundreds of fellow villagers against the proposed steel plant by Mittal group of industries in Kumrabadh, some 18km from here.

Neither Sabita nor Fulmuni has nothing to do with the proposed steel plant as none of them has land there, but they came to support the cause of others.

“We won’t not allow our land for private companies here,” Sabita said.

The women, like other villagers, also know the rules of the century-old Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act (SPTA) under which sale and purchase of tribal land is protected.

On May 21, Sital Prasad, manager of Simlong coal project in Godda, a unit of ECL’s Rajmahal coalfield project, was taken hostage by villagers for more than 12 hours during an inspection to Chaparvita mine, which is part of ECL’s extension plan. Villagers of Baramujora to be acquired for the new project also damaged his official vehicle.

Munni Hansdak, co-ordinator of Jharkhand Ulgulan Manch, said that a special drive had been initiated in Santhal Pargana villages to sensitise people on the SPTA.